Ill) 



Species which have at different times been the cause of considerable injury 



to potato crops are tlie Blacli Blister Beetle (Epicauta pennsillvanica, DeG. ). 



the Spotted Blister Beetle (Epicauta maculata. Say) and the Gray Blister 



Beetles (Jlacrobasis vnicolor, Kirby, and Epicauta cinerea, Forst.) — Fletcher. 



Hop Flea Beetle irxijtliorlcs pnnctulata. Nels. ). 



This pest has been reported during the last few seasons as doing great 

 injury to hops at Chilliwack and Agassiz. On referring the matter to Dr. 

 Fletcher, he replied as follows : " The course you suggested is exactly what I 

 should have advised niy.self, viz., to spray the vines with a Bordeaux mixture 

 poisoned with arsenate of lead, using lib. of the poison to every .50 gallons of 

 the mixture." In consequence of its habit of attacking the young shoots of 

 hops denuding them of their leaves, it is a most difiicult insect to cope with, 

 and Mr. Wilson, Manager for Sir Arthur Stepney, at Agassiz, says : " I do 

 not thiuli the beetle will eat the poisoned foliage, as they get a new growth 

 ever.y day to feed upon." Mr. Hulburt first reported the pest on his hops .it 

 Chilliwack some years ago. and was recommended to use Paris green in the 

 usual manner for leaf-eating insects, but he reported that it was a failure, 

 probably for the same reason as given by Mr. Wilson. r>lr. Hulburt after- 

 wards reported that the only, in the least, .successful method he had discovered 

 was by spreading tarred sheets, which he placed as follows: "I take thin 

 cotton sheeting and tack it on to a frame made of two laths with a centre 

 piece of 2 in. x % in., to which a light handle is attached. 



" The cloth is painted with tar. which has to be constantly scraped off and 

 freshly painted, so that it does not <lry. These are jilaced under the vines, 

 wliich are tapped or jarred with a light stick, wlien all the fleas fall off and 

 adhere to the tar. The fleas can only be caught ou a hot- sunny day." 



Mr. Wilson, writing ou the ISth August, says : " We used the remedy 

 recommended by Mr. Hulburt last season, but the beetles came in so numerous 

 early this season that they did not give the vine a chance to grow, to allow us 

 to trap them with tarred sheets ; however, the beetles are disappearing now, 

 and thei-e are but few to be found iu the yard," 



Dr. Fletcher, writing under date of 26th March. 1007, sa.vs : " I have read 

 the correspondence concerning the hop beetle in the Agassiz hop-yards. I 

 cannot help thinking that the whole of this trouble is as you have gently sug- 

 gested in your letter, that the arsenate of lead was not ajjplied quite as it 

 should have been. Xour letter of 10th December to Mr. lloberts covers the 

 ground thoroughly. The only thing at all iu the matter which is not quite 

 accurate, but which at the same time does not affect the question in the least, 

 is your surmise that this lieetle, I'sijtliodcs puitctiilata, passes the winter in 

 the pupal condition. It is much more likely that tliis insect always passes the 

 winter as a perfect beetle, but the remedy you suggest would be beneficial for 

 this form also. 



" The amount of arsenate of lead used, 3 lbs. to 40 gallons, did 

 undoubtedly kill a great many of the beetles, but, of course, Mr. Wilson would 

 not be able to find them unless by chance he might find one by accident. If, 

 as Mr. Wilson suggests, the flea beetles will not eat the poi.soued foliage, he 

 has attained the object aimed at. The growth of the hop-vine is not so rapid 

 that it would supply enough unsprayed new foliage every day to feed the 



